Old VS New 100% Custom Promotional Business Model

There are two distinctive business models when it comes to the promotional items business, what I consider the “old” is farming most production outside (usually China or India) and the new 100% custom one which is similar to how Tesla cars are made (and CNCROi.com works), in-house!

The old promotional items business model

Drive down just about any city and you are guaranteed to see “promotional / trophy” type signage, oddly, enough, these are essentially the same type of businesses. The majority are just import / export businesses with very little in-house production beyond the name tag. They have a ton of product to show you but can’t “show you” the machines used to make it with!

See those very nice looking silver trophies in the window? Nope, they didn’t make them, the shipped them in… see those resin awards, same thing. Lanyards through pens and even clothing, they come into the shop in boxes and are given to the customer as/is, generally with the “custom engraving” already on it.

I call these the “old guard” because the entire business has not changed in the past 50 years. They are like traditional car companies, they come out with new cars yes, but they import their cars to keep costs down and as such, become like everybody else doing the same. Sourcing components from the company that can make things the cheapest to their minimum standards, they use to make things in house but to bring down costs, brought that end down dramatically and hence, dramatically increased recall rates.

Their selling point? We are cheaper than the next guy and the designs are similar… just like the award and promotions industry! Go into any corporate office and you are almost guaranteed to see an employee who won something like the following.

100% Custom Industry Innovators

CNCROi.com, like Tesla Motors, brings in the raw components and makes them custom to their customer’s requirements. The acrylic award above for instance, we would bring in the acrylic BLOCK and machine it to our customer’s requirements. Does it cost more? Yes (project depending)! That’s why you never see a Tesla car for 15 thousand dollars NEW on the lot but also why you end-up with a self-driving car that costs you nothing in gas so it’s all relative.

What’s interesting though is that you can now buy a new Tesla car for 35K instead of 80K because now they are getting into something called “volume pricing” where efficiencies and expertise are shared across a larger production volume. You have a wickedly higher quality end-product BUT that’s now competing against the “old guard” and it isn’t a fair fight for the old guard. This is where CNCROi.com is now. We can make the ultra-high-end stuff but also be competitive with what’s currently in the marketplace but WAY BETTER!

Compare the generic award above to what we make in-house below 100% custom for our customers.

Zero investment IN also means zero return OUT

There is a reason to set-up a traditional promotions or award company, it’s incredibly easy and cheap! You bring in a few catalogs, order a few samples to show people and people pick from the catalog what they want, give you money, you make a phone call and double the price and give it to the customer a week later. Easy for everybody!

You don’t even need to buy any machines anymore nor invest in high-end CAM/CAD solutions like we have!

Now, this is where it becomes challenging, the gig is up and everybody knows what a generic award is worth and it’s as close to nothing as you can get. They are ugly, they are boring and about as interesting as a cubicle workspace which are also a dying breed. I’ve never met an employee that tells me about how awesome the award sitting on their desk is, as the company owner and generally, it’s the easiest thing they could find that fit the bill.

Want to give something truly 100% custom special to a customer, supplier or employee that they will WANT TO SHARE WITH OTHERS and thus help you get more productivity in return? Don’t go generic, go 100% custom!

100% Custom is EASY!

I know you may be use to catalogs but hear me out, going 100% custom is EASY! Really! Creating something unique just for you to match your project goals and aspirations within your organization takes slightly more leg work than paging through a catalog but the results are exponentially better!

Our process is very straight forward, you don’t need to be a material or production expert much less know how to operate the high-end equipment we have in our shop. All you need is an idea (we can help you with that too), budget and volume.

The idea or concept is essential as our “catalog” has infinite possibilities so we need to narrow that down. The budget is also important as it dictates material and design choices while volume ties all three together. The process generally goes like this.

IDEA –> SKETCH–> 3D MODEL –> PROTOTYPE–> PRODUCTION–> DELIVERY

Keep in mind that this is an interactive process, through these steps, we continually refine materials, dimensions and other items to hit your budget goals.

Idea
Do you want coasters, pen holders, an award? What do you envision them looking like and how it fits with your logo?

Sketch
We (or you) come-up with some simple line drawing of how you see something coming together, maybe it’s a coaster in the shape or your logo or maybe, it’s a complex geometric award for your employee of the month made-up with motivational words. It can be as clean or messy as you need, to get your point across to us.

3D Model
This is where things start to take form, we make a 3D model of the item you wish (where applicable) so that you know what we are making within a 3D environment. The above sketch isn’t the easiest thing to bring to the HR department head but a 3D model takes seconds to evaluate.

Prototype
Depending on the volume, we may need to make a prototype of what we plan on making for you, the reason is simple, we don’t want to make 100 of the above awards to discover a design fault! 3D modeling is a fantastic too but it doesn’t replace real-world physics and challenges.

Production
After the prototype is checked out, it can be something simple like a coaster or challenging as a 3D puzzle, depending on the steps, we ship it to you for further evaluation OR just send photos with measurement and other relevant information. Generally, the step between prototype and production in only a few hours – the materials might not be the same depending on what we have in inventory but the idea is approved from there on out.

Delivery
The project is done and ready to be shipped using tracked courier or regular mail.

Frequently Asked Custom Questions

I have limited time, how long does this generally take?

It depends on the complexity of the job. 100% custom corporate awards, depending on the design, is generally a few days while something as simple as a custom coaster might take one day from idea to prototype. Volume plays no role in how long things take until production happens. Everything is generally done by e-mail as well, you send us ideas, we send back sketches etc. Think of it more as a conversation going back and forth than a hard slog that will take you away from your everyday duties.

For instance, once we have materials sorted, we may already have enough in stock or have to do some special orders that take a few days but that’s done right before production once the prototype is approved.

Looking at the video below, we’ve already changed DRASTICALLY since starting in a two car garage. We now have a big shop where the air compressor alone is bigger than the laser machine! Quite a contrast from the more recent next video under this one.

How does the cost structure work?

It depends on volume, budget and deliverables. Let’s say you want 1 000 custom key chains with individual team member names on them (same or different engraving info makes no difference to us btw), we’d ask you to pay for everything in advance with an established timeline for deliverables. If you want to go 50/50, that’s fine too, it depends on the project and company we are dealing with. If you are a multi-national, we are more flexible than if you are a corner store.

I just want pens!

If all you want are pens, we can laser engrave or fiber mark those too! It will cost more than your previous order of generic pens because we will source high-end solid wood ones, or made out of stainless steel or exotics etc. Cheap generic plastic pens like you get by the boatload visiting your typical trade show are ink printed and that isn’t the business we are in.

If it’s for a trade show, go with those cheap generic options but keep our HIGH END pens in your back pocket and if a prospect seems worth it or a fantastic customer shows-up, give them something that will actually remember and KEEP! By the way, we can also make custom matching pen holders with your logo out of anything to match the pens, something somebody will want to keep on their desk!

It’s like our custom business card options, give everybody the cheap paper ones but the high-end options to customers who give you money or that you are trying to grab attention from. That’s what we do and we get ours done at-cost!

What kind of timeline do you need?

The earlier we are involved in the acquisition process, the better! It really comes down to volume, budget and materials. If you want a simple plywood key holder and you already have the CAD files to send to us, it will go faster than having no idea of what you want and working with us to flesh something out.

We do offer rush 100% custom service but prefer a little time to work with you to come-up with your optimal result.

How much does this stuff cost?

Everything is 100% custom, that’s why we set-up an e-commerce store for our more “generic-custom” offerings and want you to contact us with your budget. There is no set price-list for our services, we can make a custom coaster for a few dollars just like we can make the same for a few hundred out of some exotic metal with internal gears.

Budget will tell us right away what we can and cannot do for you, material selection you will have available, designs that are possible AND depending on volume, a realistic unit price.

I have lots more questions?

That’s great, we have lots more custom answers! Contact CNCROi.com right now!